1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a picking row for use in a poultry defeathering apparatus, said picking row comprising: an elongate support part with a front side surface, a back side surface facing away from the front side surface, a first interconnecting side surface and a second interconnecting side surface, said side surfaces extending in parallel to a length axis of the support part and said first and second interconnecting side surfaces interconnecting the front and back side surfaces; a plurality of picking heads arranged on the front side surface of the support part, each comprising a disc shaped base member a plurality of picking fingers attached thereto; and at least one actuator for rotating each of the picking heads about an axis, which is substantially perpendicular to the length axis of the support part. The invention further relates to a poultry defeathering apparatus including such picking rows.
2. Background
Poultry defeathering apparatuses of this type and the picking rows there fore are known for example from WO2007/071236A1, WO2005/072323A2 and CN2755995Y.
As explained in WO2005/072323 the positioning of the picking rows in relation to each other has great influence on the defeathering operation and hence on the risk of damaging the carcass, when the picking fingers impinge on and move across its surface. If the picking fingers interact too heavily with the carcass the result can be downgraded quality and loss of yield. On the other hand, it is important to obtain carcasses that have been fully defeathered, also when the line speed is high.
To allow an optimum positioning of the picking rows they are often designed with beveled edges, which allow them to be positioned relatively closely to each other in mutually angled positions as shown in CN2755995Y. A space is always kept between the picking rows to avoid the generation of noise during use and this space is closed with sheet members keeping feathers inside the defeathering zone of the apparatus and away from motors and other moveable parts.
The sheet members, however, tend to become scratched, which makes them difficult to clean, and hence they have to be replaced regularly.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a picking row and a defeathering apparatus, where the sealing between the picking rows is achieved in an alternative way, which requires less maintenance.